Ensure API Keys Are Rotated Periodically
More Info:
Security risks involved in using API-Keys are listed below: • API keys are simple encrypted strings • API keys do not identify the user or the application making the API request • API keys are typically accessible to clients, making it easy to discover and steal an API key Because of these potential risks, Google recommends using the standard authentication flow instead of API Keys. However, there are limited cases where API keys are more appropriate. For example, if there is a mobile application that needs to use the Google Cloud Translation API, but doesn’t otherwise need a backend server, API keys are the simplest way to authenticate to that API. Once a key is stolen, it has no expiration, meaning it may be used indefinitely unless the project owner revokes or regenerates the key. Rotating API keys will reduce the window of opportunity for an access key that is associated with a compromised or terminated account to be used. API keys should be rotated to ensure that data cannot be accessed with an old key that might have been lost, cracked, or stolen.
Risk Level
Medium
Address
Security, Reliability
Compliance Standards
CISGCP, CBP
Triage and Remediation
Remediation
Additional Reading:
- [There is no option to automatically regenerate (rotate) API keys periodically.](There is no option to automatically regenerate (rotate) API keys periodically.)